The Dhaka education board said it only approved temporarily an English-medium school at Lalmatia to operate under the name Peace School. The others do not have any such permission.

"First the authorities establish an educational institution. They apply for government approval after reaching a certain stage. The government then inspects the institution and takes a decision on whether to give it permission to continue operating," the official said.

None of these "Peace Schools" in Dhaka had applied for permission to the ministry or the board, an Education Ministry official said.

Intelligence agencies were asked to inquire into the 20 "Peace Schools" so far detected by the government.